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Farrow & Ball's 'Setting Plaster' design ideas for bedrooms, kitchens and around the house
If there is one colour for which Farrow & Ball is best known, we would hazard a good guess that it'd be ‘Setting Plaster’. Long before the current trend for raw plaster and limewashed walls, the paint favourites had the bright idea to create a shade that mimics that freshly applied and dried plaster look that is so coveted. It is the perfect pink, it reacts brilliantly to all sorts of light and–somewhat confusingly if you are considering using it in your own home–it can look totally different from one room to the next.
“Setting Plaster is an uncertain pink named after the blushing walls we so often admire in newly plastered houses,” Joa Studholme, who is Farrow & Ball's colour curator and the mind behind their most popular paints, explains “and works whatever the aspect of the space, but has a particularly engaging glow in south facing rooms. The inclusion of small amounts of yellow pigment make it feel soft and timeless and incredibly easy to live with - this colour makes no demands on us - it whispers rather than shouts and gives us a welcoming embrace. To achieve the ultimate in relaxation and prevent the eye being drawn to an uncomfortable contrast with white, it is best used on both walls and ceiling."
Another key pairing with ‘Setting Plaster’ is mahogany, either the Farrow & Ball colour or the wood itself. The very nature of the colour means it serves as a lovely backdrop to dark browns and so if you're someone with a lot of antiques, it's a brilliant shade to choose. “We crave warm tones that will enrich our homes and create cosy sanctuaries away from the modern world,” Joa continues, “so are drawn to find refuge in the beautiful natural tones of the earth.”
Setting Plaster costs £52 for 2.5l of Estate Emulsion.
Farrow & Ball's 'Setting Plaster' design ideas
Paul Massey1/21Walls in ‘Setting Plaster’ by Farrow & Ball allow the brighter colours to sing in one of the children's rooms of this country house by Henri Fitzwilliam-Lay. The four-poster bed is painted in Little Greene’s ‘Canton’ blue and has a pelmet in fabric from Eva Sonaike, also used for the upholstered stool.
Owen Gale2/21Painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Setting Plaster’, the light pink living room in this Victorian house in London serves as the perfect backdrop to the bolder tones used throughout the space.
Kristin Perers3/21In the living room of Catherine Olley's flat, the walls are painted in Farrow & Ball's Setting Plaster No 231. For contrast, the interior shelving has been painted in Dulux's Florentine Red. Underfoot, a coir rug from Alternative Flooring provides warmth. The TV box is a custom made piece by Catherine, created using Ikea frames filled with Andrew Martin's Penny Post wallpaper in red.
Dean Hearne4/21The walls in the main living space of India Holmes' house are in ‘Setting Plaster’, providing a neutral backdrop for India's layers of colour. The window recesses are also a Farrow & Ball shade, ‘Radicchio’ and the yellow fringed lamp is from La Dolce Vita.
5/21In Kathy Crisp's Sussex house, the front sitting room is painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Setting Plaster’, with the design at the top in ‘James White’.
Paul Massey6/21In the bedroom of Lisa Mehydene's barn conversion, walls in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Setting Plaster’ showcase a headboard made by John Haswell from a rug; the remnants were turned into a blind and a cushion (on the sofa from Lassco) by curtain maker Agota Balint.
Tom Griffiths7/21The front door of Victoria Barker's cottage opens into the sitting room, which is painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Setting Plaster’. The ceiling and original beams are painted in ‘Pointing’ to help bounce the light through the room. The timber lintel over the inglenook, which was set alight by a previous owner and had suffered a heavy burn mark, is also painted in ‘Setting Plaster’.
Milo Brown8/21The sitting room of this Stoke Newington house by Lonika Chande was already painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Setting Plaster’, the perfect backdrop for the couple's art, but it was given a fresh coat of paint to help it feel new.
Rachael Smith9/21A shelf in Fenwick & Tilbrook’s ‘Goldcrest’ contrasts with dark painted units from DIY Kitchens and walls in ‘Setting Plaster’ in Lucinda Griffith's Welsh cottage.
Simon Brown10/21In the drawing room of this 16th-century farmhouse in Dorset with interiors by Samantha Todhunter, ‘Setting Plaster’ appears in a very pink tone, with curtains and cushions highlighting the colour and ‘Fairhill’ chairs by George Smith in a Tissus d’Hélène chenille contrast.
Owen Gale11/21Don't think that the colour has to be paired with other neutrals. Chris Graves of Clarence & Graves has built on the beautiful bones of this Victorian house in Chiswick to create a stylish family home that blends bold colour with muted elegance. The boot room has walls in Farrow & Ball's ‘Setting Plaster,’ while the woodwork is in 'Arsenic'.
Paul Massey12/21The kitchen of this house in Bath shows ‘Setting Plaster’ in a more peachy light, paired with a dark colour on the cabinets and white painted architectural details.
Owen Gale13/21Interior designer Angelica Squire has used ‘Setting Plaster’ to cover the walls of her light-flooded kitchen and dining area. It is a wonderful backdrop to the other colours she has peppered throughout, with a dark blue velvet seat adding a focal point.
Owen Gale14/21Elsewhere in the same space, Angelica Squire has used 'Preference Red' as a contrast to the softness of ‘Setting Plaster’.
Paul Massey15/21Nicola Harding chose the soothing shade of ‘Setting Plaster’ for the main bedroom of a Berkshire house she redecorated, pairing it with a headboard upholstered in ‘Carolina’ linen from Vanderhurd. A rug from Guinevere continues the pale pink and blue theme.
Paul Massey16/21Elsewhere in the same house, Nicola used ‘Setting Plaster’ by Farrow & Ball in a light-filled living room, where the colour appears paler and more peachy than elsewhere. Here, she also paired it with blue fabrics.
Catherine Gratwicke17/21This living room in a Georgian house by Ben Pentreath does not receive as much light as some others in this gallery, and it shows how pink ‘Setting Plaster’ appears in darker rooms. Ben has upped the pretty factor of the pink by adding in R1351-4 from GP&J Baker in Magnolia Cream/Blue on the armchair. This room is also a key one to highlight how well ‘Setting Plaster’ works with dark wood antiques.
Andreas von Einsiedel18/21Joa Studholme has used ‘Setting Plaster’ in her own house, creating a cocooning and welcoming spare room with the pale pink shade.
Paul Massey19/21Another example of how the yellow undertones pull through in bright rooms is in this bathroom by Brandon Schubert. He has created a relaxing and airy scheme, pairing marble and rattan with the colour.
Simon Brown20/21While we are used to seeing ‘Setting Plaster’ in kitchens when used on the walls, this kitchen by Samantha Todhunter is the first time we've seen it used on kitchen cabinets. A chequerboard floor in ‘Tora Blue’ and ‘Mallory’ limestone tiles from Artisans of Devizes is softened by the light pink, which is on a wall of panelled cupboards designed by Samantha, inspired by old dressers.
Paul Massey21/21‘We wanted it to feel cosy, but also have a sense of grandeur,’ Kate Hawkins says of her living room. ‘The walls are in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Setting Plaster’, which adds warmth,’ she adds ‘while the curtains are in Tinsmiths’ ‘Marbled Fabric’. It is quite a full-on pattern, but works really well here.' It's yet more proof of how well blue works with the plaster tone.
